Walking on the tracks
by S'upitsRobyn
Summary: You always read those stories about a girl joining the gang on their adventure along the why not a guy?
1. Chapter 1

Walking on the Tracks

I was twelve going on thirteen the first time I saw a dead human happened in the summer of 1959,a long time ago.

But only if you measure in terms of years.

My name is Daniel Taylor.I was born and raised in the small mundane town of Castle Rock,not a lot happened there,you just did the same old thing every only interesting thing in my life at the time were my boys who I came to see as brothers.

I made my way over to our hideout.A wooden treehouse that had a perfect view of our little world.I could tell that the treehouse was occupied by the faint sound of a radio playing Rockin I made it to the door and did the good old secret know or else the guys wouldn't let me in.

The door opened and I headed of my friends were up there playing Thirty One.

"Hey,how'd you know a Frenchmen's been in your backyard?" Chris said looking up from his cards.

Chris Chambers was the leader of my 5'8 with a stocky was your typical James Dean look a like with his blond soft hair and sparkling blue had a tough persona but inside was the most caring sincere person I knew at the this no one in town really cared for family were as you would say,low were bad as bad could get and everyone knew Chris would turn out bad Chris.

"I am French okay?" Teddy replied,a hint of edge to his voice.

Teddy do I even begin to describe Teddy son of a thick blonde brown had a thing for army culture thanks to his old loved his old man despite his whacked up held Teddy's ear to a stove and almost burned it didn't put Teddy off though,he wore that fleshy pink ear with pride.

Chris said the hilarious punch line and received a laugh from Gordie and I.

Gordie good was shy but was a to write stories all the hair was chestnut brown and his huge eyes matched.I remember the kids at school would call him "Doe Like".He was going through a rough patch at the older brother Denny had been tragically been killed in a jeep accident.I liked Gordie a lot.

Chris and Teddy continued their game as I read a comic with Gordie.I remember thinking that it would be a typical everyday in Castle Rock.

Boy was I wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 2

Chris and Teddy went on with their game while Gordie and I read our favourite comics.I sighed a little as I read my comic and thought about how this day was going to be like any other day when there was a knock on the door.

"That's not the secret knock!" Gordie sighed irritated.

"I forget the secret knock! Let me in!" a voice squeaked from outside.

"Vern!" we all said in unison.

Vern Tessio was the youngest of our gang and the butt of (mostly Teddy's) jokes. He was quite short and tubby with jet black hair and bright sky blue had a gleaming smile and a good wasn't the sharpest tool in the box but he was still a good kid.

He climbed up into the treehouse after Chris opened the door,a jumble of words tumbling out of his mouth.

"You guys won't believe this it's incredible!" Vern gasped red in the clearly had been running.

"What are you pissing and moaning about Vern-0?!" Teddy asked impatiently.

"I knock" Chris declared to Teddy's dismay.

"What?!' Teddy cried outraged "you liar!".

"Make your draw Shitheap" Chris laughed.

Then Vern said it.

"You guys wanna go see a dead body?".

Everyone froze,all eyes were on Vern,staring at him widely in disbelief.

"Well I was under the porch digging you know?..." Vern began to tell us the story.

He was under his porch digging,looking for his long lost pennies (long story) when he overheard his older brother Billy and his friend Charlie Hogan talking about Ray Brower's Brower was our had gone out to pick blue berries but never came he was dead?

According to Vern,Billy and Charlie had discovered his body down the back Harlow road near the old train tracks,Charlie wanted to tell the cops but Billy wouldn't let him cause they boosted a car to get there.

"I know the back Harlow road!" Teddy told us when Vern had finished "it comes to a dead by the Royal River!".

"Jesus Christ man,if they knew you were under there they would have killed you" Chris told Vern.

"Man,poor kid" I said shaking my head "getting hit by a train is a terrible way to go".

"Yeah he was so young" Gordie added.

I thought we were done with the subject when Chris had an changed our lives.

"Hey you guys,I bet you if we find him we'll get our pictures in the paper!".

"Yeah! We could be on TV!" Teddy exclaimed.

"Sure!" Chris replied.

"We'll be heroes!" Teddy cried, his eyes bright.

"Yeah!"

"Guys hold on a sec!" I jumped in "we can't just go all the way to the back Harlow Road to find a body".

"Dan's right" Vern agreed "what do we tell our folks?".

"Easy" Gordie replied "we'll just say we're tenting out in your back field,you tell your folks you're sleeping at Teddy's and we say we're going to the drag races the next day".

"Man that's a plan in a half!" Chris grinned as he and Gordie did our special "skin it" hand shake.

"But if we do find the body then our parents will know we lied and we'll get hided" Vern protested.

"No one will care cause everyone's gonna be so jazzed about what we found!" Teddy reassured him.

"Yeah,well my dad will hide me anyway but he'll it's worth it!" Chris said nodding "let's do it! Whose in?".

"Shit yeah I'm in!" Teddy shouted excitedly.

"Gordie? Daniel?" Chris asked us.

"Sure" Gordie said shrugging.

"Okay what the heck?" I said.

We all looked at Vern.

"I don't know..." he sighed.

"Vern!" Chris said raising and eyebrow.

"C'mon Verno!" Teddy said.

Soon Teddy and Chris had him in a headlock until he agreed.

"So cool! So cool!" Teddy was shouting hyped up.

day sure took a turn for the exciting.


	3. Chapter 3

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 3

After making the crazy yet intriguing decision to go search for Ray Brower's body, the gang all headed home to pack up for the trip. I made my way back to my house to pack a few needed things, I was thinking how nice it would be to get away for a day or two to be with friends then I doubted if my folks would even let me go if they thought I was staying with friends.

My parents weren't exactly keen on my pals especially Chris mainly due to a long time feud between our families. Our old men resented each other and my dad expected me to feel the exact same way about Chris but that was impossible.

I was soon at my place. I noted my dad's car in the driveway despite it being way too early for him to be home. I got out my key and walked inside. It was quiet,it had been since what happened two months ago.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out, "in here" my mother's soft voice replied from the kitchen.

I made my way to meet her, she was sitting at the table reading a book or it looked like she was, I could tell she wasn't that interested as her eyes weren't focused on the page. I poured myself a glass of water as my mother continued to 'read'. "Hey mom" I said as casually as I could. "Mm?" she said still looking at the page,"is it okay if I stay at a friend's house tonight?" I asked turning to her."Which friend?" she asked me,her eyes moving up slightly.

At that moment my dad walked into the room with a brown wooden pipe in his mouth and newspaper in his hand. "What about his friends?" he asked gruffly,"Dan wants to spend the night at ones house" my mother explained getting up.I saw dad's expression turn sour "not that Chambers kid?" He spat the word Chambers out as if it was poison,it made my heart pump faster. "No" I replied cleverly "it's Gordie".

"Oh he's a nice boy" my mother cooed beginning to make some coffee for my dad,"is he the one who lost his brother?" my dad asked as if it wasn't a big issue,"yeah" I answered quietly.

"He was a good kid that Denny" my mother chipped in smiling sadly "perfect for Jane..." her voice trailed away as soon as she said her name. I swallowed hard. Jane was my sister and Denny's girlfriend. I remember them being so in love but when he was tragically killed a part of Jane died with him,she became depressed,didn't eat or sleep and two months ago made the heartbreaking choice of ending her life.I still feel sick at the memory of finding her...

I shook my head to banish the thought.

"Look I need to pack for Gordie's" I said quickly "bye".I ran upstairs to my room so I didn't have to see the tears in my mother's blue about ten minutes I had pretty much everything I needed for the journey,as I was finishing off my dad walked in. "You shouldn't do that to her" he said coldly.

"Do what?" I asked him still looking at my duffel bag,"running away whenever she mentions your sister" my dad told me "she needs to talk about it".

"Well I'm sorry but maybe I'm not exactly ready just yet" I said looking down at my bed.

"Maybe if you stopped running around with those reckless idiots you would be ready" my dad cruelly scoffed. I finally faced him and his stiff body."Leave them out of this" I told him trying to hide the anger in my voice.

"Why? Because you don't want to hear the truth Daniel?" my dad sneered "do you know what it's like eh? To have my own son socialising with scum like Chambers?". My rage was boiling inside my chest and my shaking hands were clutching my bag tighter. "Chris is not scum" I replied firmly "his family may be but he isn't".

I stamped out the room before my dad could make another snide comment and tip me over the edge.

When I got downstairs I said goodbye to my mum and opened the door to meet the gang. I looked at the small picture of a smiling Jane on the desk and sighed before putting it in my bag and heading off.


	4. Chapter 4

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 4

I was standing on the curb outside The Blue Point Diner waiting for Gordie,judging by the position of the sun it had just gone noon.

I soon spotted Gordie heading over to me with his eyes covered by Denny's old Yankees Cap,"hey Gordo" I smiled at him when he made his way to me,"hey man" he replied with less enthusiasm."Whats wrong man?" I asked him concerned as I noticed something was bugging him."It's nothing man I'm fine' he mumbled but I knew he was lying.

"C'mon,we better go meet Chris" I then said so we started walking.

After five minutes,an old rusty blue truck drove past us with Chris riding on the back."Right here's cool!" he told the driver and hopped off."Thanks a lot" Chris said as the driver drove off giving us a smile."Hey Chris" Gordie and I said together."Gordo! Danny!" Chris grinned throwing his arms over our shoulders as we continued walking. He too soon noted Gordie's low mood."You okay Gordie?" he asked but he received the same reply I did,"I'm fine".

"Guys I gotta show you something!" Chris said grinning, "what?" I said suspiciously,"come on!" Chris said running off,"what is it Chris?" I yelled running after him with Gordie following."This is great,you have to see this" Chris wickedly grinned after leading us down the Blue Point Diner,"what is it?" Gordie asked curiously."Yeah Chambers show us" I told Chris who then reached into his dark green bag and slowly pulled out...a gun.

"You guys wanna be the Lone Ranger or the Cisco kid?" Chris smirked as Gordie and I admired the gun shocked."Walkin' talkin' Jesus" gasped Gordie taking the gun "where'd you get this thing man?"."Took it from my old man" Chris explained while Gordie extended his arms holding the gun "it's a 45".

"I can see that" Gordie said firmly,Chris smiled and looked at the gun proudly."Is...is it loaded?" I asked him staring at it s if it would suddenly go off and shoot a passer by in the foot."Hell no what do you think I am?" Chris replied chuckling."Here Dan,you hold it!" Gordie held out the gun to me and I hesitated in taking it."C'mon man! What are you scared?" Chris said imitating Teddy. I gave him a stern glare and cautiously took the gun. It was cold and smooth between my fingers,the metal was a dark shiny black which I could see my nervous expression in.I copied Gordie by holding out like the cowboys did in the movies,"you sure it's not loaded?' I repeated to Chris,"no" Chris said hands on hip.

I sighed and pulled the trigger only for a sharp loud bullet to fly out and crash into a trash can."OH MY GOD!" Gordie screamed as Chris laughed,"let's go!" I yelled and we started to run."DANIEL DID IT!" Chris shouted back loudly bumping into another trash can "DAN TAYLOR IS SHOOTING UP CASTLE ROCK!"."SHUT UP!" I yelled back at him angrily.

We passed by a corner to catch our breath as that idiot Chambers was pissing himself with laughter at my horror."Ah man you should have seen your face!" he said to me grinning widely "that was really fine!".

"You shit sucker! You knew it was loaded didn't you?!" I shoved the gun back to Chris,my hands shaking with rage and shock."I'm gonna get into some deep shit now,that ditzy waitress saw me!"."Shit Dan,she thought it was fire crackers!" Chris tried to reassure me."Chris that was a mean trick" Gordie said looking at Chris as if he were a child,"I didn't know it was loaded!" Chris defended himself but I sighed deeply."Honest" he said.

"You swear?" I asked him crossing my arms,"yeah" Chris replied with a sigh,"on your mother's life?" Gordie added and Chris nodded with exaggeration."Even if she rots in hell because you lied?" I pushed him further."Yeah I swear Dan!".

I held up my pinky finger.

Chris smiled slightly with another swear."Pinky swear" he said crossing his heart with his pinky before kissing it and holding it patted my shoulder and we carried on walking.

I was still worried about the gun.

Just then two a door near us opened and out stepped two of the most meanest,spiteful, cruelest guys in Merril and Richard "Eyeball" Chambers. I swallowed and bit my lip at the sight of them.I'll admit it these guys fucking scared the shit out of me.

"Hey girls where you going?" Eyeball taunted as we passed was Chris's bully for an older brother and earned his ridiculous nickname due to his right eye being bruised and wonkier than the ignored them until that son of a bitch Ace swiped Gordie's hat off his head causing us to stop.

"Hey man my brother gave me that!" Gordie snapped at him,"and now you're giving it to me" I still remember that voice Ace and full of venom."Give it to me!" Gordie yelled trying to grab his beloved cap back as Ace cruelly helped it above was a painful looked ready to burst into tears at the thought of losing the one thing he had left of his brother.

"Ace for once in your life stop being a dick!" I snapped firmly,"oh Taylor" Ace smirked giving me a spine chilling look "long time no see pal and oh...say hi to your sister for me".I pressed my lips together and clenched my fists to prevent myself from ripping these bastard's head off."You're a real asshole you know that?" Chris spat giving Ace a look of hate.

"Ooh" Ace handed the hat to Eyeball who grinned like a moron and placed it on his greasy hair,"your brother's not a polite one Eyeball!"."Now Christopher! I know you didn't mean to insult my friend" Eyeball said slowly."I know he didn't mean to insult me which is why I'm gonna give him the chance to take it back" Ace whispered,his voice dripping with poison.

Suddenly he had Chris shoved on the hard floor with his ear pressed up close to Chris's ear."Take it back kid" he sneered as Chris struggled to be released."You bastard get the hell off me" Chris gasped,"get the fuck off him Merril!" I snapped trying to drag him off but it was no use."Stop! Cut it out man!" Gordie yelled at Ace who was now holding a lit cigarette but dangerously close to Chris's eye."Take...it...back".

"You piece of shi...okay I take it back I take it back!" Chris gasped squeezing his eyes shut,Ace had a vile smirk of victory on his face as he dragged Chris up and shoved him next to us."There now I feel a whole lot better about this" he said coldly "how about you?".We remained silent."Good" Ace patted Gordie's pale face and turned away,"see you later girls" Eyeball waved pettily and followed him.

Chris and I sighed and began walking away but Gordie stayed where he was,"come on man" I said placing my hand in his thin shoulder,"just forget them" Chris swallowed a large lump in his throat and joined gave him a slight kick up the ass and soon received one back.

"Well why do we even need a pistol for anyway?" Vern asked Chris stepping onto the dusty brown tracks,"it's spooky sleeping out night in the woods" Chris answered walking next to him "we might see a bear"."Or a huge flesh eating monster!" Teddy snickered grabbing Vern's hunched shoulders,"back off Teddy!" Vern barked but you could tell he was frightened by the all chuckled under our breath."I brought a comb!" Vern piped cheerfully,"why would we need that?!" Chris laughed,"for the tv!" Vern said "we want to look good huh?".

"Wow Vern! That's a lot of thinking" Gordie sarcastically remarked."Thanks" smiled the gullible Vern,Teddy raised his fist as if to hit him causing Vern to jump back,"two for flinching" Teddy smirked and thumped his shoulder twice.

We all stopped at the end of Castle Rock and stared at the never ending train track which would lead us to the body of Ray Brower."Geez,how far d'you think its gonna be?" Teddy asked,the wind whipping through his sandy hair,"if we follow the tracks all the way to Harlow..." Chris started."Should be about twenty miles" I finished,"sounds right to you Gordie?" Chris asked putting is hands on his hips,"yeah" Gordie replied looking ahead "yeah it might even be thirty".

"I think maybe we should hitchike" Vern said biting his lip,we all stared round at him then started to head down shaking our heads."No way that sucks!" Teddy scoffed,"how? we could go down the church,head up the Back Harlow Road so we'll be there by sundown!" Vern tried to tell us."That's pussy" Teddy said back annoyed,"hey it's a long way" Vern quietly said shrugging."Did your mother have any kids that lived?" Teddy asked stopping in front of a confused Vern,"what'd you mean?" Vern replied causing Teddy to shake his head and continue walking.


	5. Chapter 5

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 5

"Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.

A knight without armor in a savage land.

His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind.

A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin."

Man, I still remember the words that old song. Every time I think of it I'm greeted with the joyful memory of walking along the tracks with my four best friends,the hot glowing sun shining high above us mixed with the wind blowing in our hair. Good times

"Hey, we can stop off at Ol' Man Preston's junkyard" Gordie told us as Teddy continued singing to himself behind us "my dad said it's safe"."Not if Choppers there!" Very piped in,"if Choppers there we'll send you in!" Chris laughed taking a swig from Gordie's water bottle."Yeah he'd love a go sicking your balls Verno" I chuckled nudging a grinning Chris.

"Hey I'm kinda hungry,whose got the food?" Vern asked. We all stopped.

"Shit" Teddy grumbled "did anybody bring anything?"."Not me' Chris shrugged "Gordie? Dan?".We both shook our heads, I gotta admit, I felt like one huge shit for brains. "Oh great! What are we supposed to do? Eat our feet?" Teddy scoffed."So you forgot too?!" Chris asked annoyed."This wasn't my idea it was Vern's" Teddy defended himself "he should of brought something!".

"I can't remember everything I brought the comb!" Vern said causing a fight to break out.

"Hey HEY!" Gordie yelled silencing them "let's see how much money we got".Thank god we had someone as logical as Gordie. We all sat on the open tracks and reached into our counted our money."Okay...I got a dollar 2...78 cents from Chris...56 cents from Teddy...Dan's got 45". Then Vern emptied his pockets."7 cents Vern?" Gordie asked slowly in disbelief,"haven't found my pennies yet" Vern mumbled. "Well two-eighty-seven's not bad" Gordie concluded "the stores at the end of the road near the junk yard so we could get some stuff there."

"Train coming!" Chris warned us jumping up and we followed."Geronimo!" Vern hoped off the tracks in movie stunt style. Teddy remained on the tracks. "C'mon Teddy!" I called at him."Uh uh" he shook his head and tossed his sleeping bag "I'm gonna dodge it!". Dodge it?! This guy was fucking out of it!

"Get off the tracks Teddy man,you're crazy!" Chris firmly said his eyes shifting to the oncoming train approaching but Teddy wouldn't move. "GET THE HELL OFF THE TRACKS TEDDY! YOU WANNA GET YOURSELF KILLED?!" Chris yelled angrily as the steam train was coming wasn't listening to him. "Just like the beach in Normandy..." he whispered to himself. His dad stormed the beach in Normandy before he lost his mind. He wouldn't shut up about it.

Finally Chris threw his bag off in frustration and jumped onto the tracks,"come on man! Move!" Chris yelled trying to secure Teddy who was protesting strongly, I don't know what the fuck I was thinking but I helped Chris eventually drag the crazy ass off before the train knocked his brains out. "YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU ASSHOLES!" Teddy screamed furiously, shoving Chris and I as the train screeched past us. "We're just trying to save your life man! You wanna kill yourself? Is that what you want goddamn it! You're trying to kill yourself!" Chris shouted as the train finally passed."Teddy we don't want you to get hurt" I tried to place my hand on his shoulder but he shoved it away. "I don't need no babysitter" he told us shaking his head at us. "You do too" Chris replied and held out his palm "skin it".

"Could a dodged it" Teddy turned away but Chris pulled him around in an attempt to make peace."Listen Teddy,you can dodge it on the way back man!" he held his palm out again "peace...skin it". Teddy looked at his palm then at Chris's calm face and finally dragged his palm against his.

I patted Teddy's shoulder to show I was sorry and we continued to the junkyard.

I knew that a journey with these guys wouldn't be boring.


	6. Chapter 6

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 6

Old Man Presson's junkyard could have been the ideal place for teenage boys to hang out, if not for Old Man Presson...or his dog Chopper the most feared and least seen dog in Castle Rock. The rumour round school was that the old man had specially trained his dog to...let me try and put this in a less bolder way..."sic" the genitals of any kid who was stupid enough to get caught hanging around.

"Oh look Vern,I think your mom's been out driving again" Gordie said pointing at a wrecked car as we stood outside the fence looking in. "Oh that was so funny I forgot to laugh" Vern replied sarcastically. "Take no prisoners men!" Teddy suddenly yelled as he through his bag over the high fence in army fashion. After we all did the same thing Teddy and Vern jumped and started to climb the fence, Chris, Gordie and I followed.

"Man Teddy's crazy" I commented as Chris picked up his bag and dusted it off while Teddy ran through the junkyard yelling for America. "Yeah...he won't live to be twenty I bet" Chris said staring after him smiling. "Hey remember that time you saved him in the tree?" Gordie asked Chris.

A few months back in the fall when we were up in the treehouse, Teddy was prancing around imitating a soldier a bit too close to the trapdoor. He was in the middle of a dramatic shooting when all of a sudden he slipped back out of the door. Luckily Chris was there to grab his skinny arm and pull him back up to safety. I'll never forget the look on his face.

"Yeah" Chris replied "I still dream about it...except in the dream I only grab a couple of his hairs and down he goes...it's weird"."But you didn't miss him" Gordie smiled."Yeah cause Chris Chambers never misses does he?" I asked grinning. "Not even when the ladies leave the seat down!" Chris spat a clean shot.

"Hey Taylor I'll race ya" Gordie turned to me."Nah man, I don't feel like it" I shook my head."We'll race you to the end man come on!" Chris joined."No I don't wanna...GO!" I shot away from them running as fast as I could."OH YOU'RE A DEAD MAN TAYLOR!" I heard Chris yell as he and Gordie started to sprint after me.

I was on the track team at school so I was sorta good at running.

"And it looks like Taylor's got him this time...he's got Chambers and LaChance beat..." Chris narrated coming closer to me. "But Chambers is getting closer...".

"Not close enough!" I quickly sprinted away from them and made it to Teddy and Vern cheering as I did. Chris and Gordie jumped on me and we exploded into fits of laughter.

It was moments like this I lived for. Happy moments with my friends.

"Hey when you homos are done with your little love fest you can get your asses over here!" Teddy called over and we joined him and Vern.

We were aiming small rocks at an old rusty can sitting in front of a pile of metal as the warm sun beamed over us."Hey you guys been watching 'The Micky Mouse Club' lately?" Teddy asked."Yeah" we all replied, "I think that chick Annette's tots are getting bigger" teddy said. Typical Teddy to notice that. "You think so?" Chris asked,"yeah I think so" Teddy said. "Yeah I think you're right, I've been noticing that the A and E are starting to bend over the sides" Gordie demonstrated causing us to laugh at the thought. "Annette's tots are great" Vern concluded.

"This is a really great time" I said. "A blast!" Teddy added."The most" said Chris smiling as his blue eyes shone. I gotta admit that was a rare sight.

After that we had a little spitting competition with the can when Teddy decided to be a pisstaker and spit it in Poor Ol' Vern's face."Great spit at the fat kid!" Vern yelled as we hooted with laughter "what time is it Gordie?". "Um...it's a quarter after one" Gordie told us checking his watch. "We better get going" I said "junkyard opens at three and if we're still here...". "Ooh sick balls!" Chris laughed.

"Hey why don't you go Vern so you can pick us up on the way back?" Teddy suggested. "I'm not going alone we should all go!" Vern protested. "No...I don't want to..." Teddy and Gordie spoke over each other. "Girls girls! Cool it! We'll flip for it" Chris suggested. We all dug into our pockets and each pulled out a silver coin. "Odd man goes" Gordie said. "That's you Gordie,outta the eye outta the sky" Teddy commented. "Flip or eat lead" Gordie mumbled before we all flipped our coins and showed them. Four tails.

"That's a goocher!" Vern squeaked. "Oh come on Vern it doesn't mean anything! We'll go again!" Chris said but Vern wouldn't let up. "No man a goochers real bad...you remember those guys at the derm? Billy told me they were sipping for beers and they pulled a goocher before they got in the car and BAM! I don't like this sincerely". Vern shook his head and we all groaned.

"Verno! No one believes that crap about moons and goochers it's baby stuff" teddy told him "now come on flip again". We all re flipped but Vern stood still. "You gonna flip or not?" Teddy asked." C'mon Vern! We don't got all day!" Chris said and Vern finally flipped. Gordie was the odd man much to Teddy's joy. "Gordie just screwed the pooch!" He laughed. "Does the word 'retarted' mean anything to you?" Gordie coolly asked getting up. "Go and get the permissions you morphadite!" Teddy shook his head. "Don't call me any of your mother's pet names!" Gordie snapped leaving.

"What a wet end you are LaChance!" Teddy commented. "Shut up!" Gordie said turning round.

"I don't shut up..." Teddy started and we all joined in "I grow up and when I look at you I throw up UGHHH!" We all laughed as Gordie shook his head before responding "and then your mother goes round the corner and licks it up!".

We all booed at him and began wrestling as he walked away.

Like I've always said finding new and despicable ways to insult a friend's mother was always held in high regard.


	7. Chapter 7

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 7

Teddy, Chris, Vern and I were all tangled up in a wrestling heap as Gordie made his way to the store to collect some food. "Okay guys enough enough " I laughed gently shoving Chris off of me as the guys chuckled happily. "Gordie better hurry up" Teddy said dusting himself off "we need to get moving before fatso and the sic balls machine get here ". "We got plenty of time Teddy" Chris told him pulling me up from the ground.

"He won't be that long" I said "not unless there's some painfully slow grandmas trying to buy their weekly Vogue". "Damn, I should of told the wiener to get some Winstons" Teddy grumbled,"don't worry Buddy Holly, I got some" Chris replied slapping his back pocket.

"Great so we can enjoy a nice smoke tonight under the stars" I smiled resting my arm on Chris's shoulder. "Sounds awesome " Teddy sighed. "Yeah but first Gordos gotta come back with the food before the old man gets here" said Chris.

I suddenly heard some crashing from the house and snapped my head in the direction the sound came from. "Crap is that him?" Vern asked shocked,"well who else would it be?" Teddy asked sarcastically "we should wait on the other side of the fence in case he sees us" .

"What about Gordie?" I asked.

"He'll see us when he comes back now let's go before we lose our balls" Teddy rushed over to the fence and we all followed.

When we all got over the fence, Gordie arrived back with the food but Ol' Man Presson noticed him. "Hey! Hey you kid!" I remember his voice was hard and boomed all over the junkyard causing the cars and scraps of metal to shake. "RUN GORDIE RUN!" We all yelled as we watched Gordie sprint towards us as Ol' Man Pressen shouted for Chopper.

"Sic em! Sic em boy!".

Gordie suddenly sprang into the fence and scrambled over it as we all laughed at Chopper who wasn't the spine chilling bone crunching brute you expected him to be. He was just a plain old Labrador with golden sandy fur and big black eyes. He layed down in the dirt as Gordie exclaimed "that's Chopper?!". "Kiss my ass Choppie kiss my ass" Teddy teased rubbing his backside up and down the fence as the dog chewed on his trousers "c'mon bite shit he he he he". "Hey you kids stop teasing that dog!" Ol' Man Presson came running up to us, red in his huge filthy face "stop teasing him!".

Teddy laughed loudly. "I'm gonna beat your ass teasing my dog like that!" the old man snarled viciously. "Yeah? I'd like to see you climb over this fence and get me fat ass!" Teddy mocked him grinning stupidly. "Don't you call me that! You little tin headed speckled loonie's son" Presson's voice was low and harsh causing Teddy to stop mid laugh. "What did you call me?" Teddy asked shocked.

"I know who you are,you're Teddy Duchamp and your dads a loony,a loony in the nuthouse up in Togus because he took your ear and burned it on a stove" Presson sneered at the clear anger swelling in Teddy. "My father stormed the beach of Normandy" Teddy said steadily as Chris placed his hand on his shoulder gently."He's crazier than a shit house rat!" the old man spat "no wonder you're acting the way you are with a loony for a father!".

"You call my dad a loony again and I'll kill you" Teddy threatened narrowing his eyes. "Loony loony loony" the fat piece of shit said. "I'M GONNA RIP YOUR HEAD OFF AND SHIT DOWN YOUR NECK!" Teddy screamed jumping onto the fence, I still remember the anger and pain that was burning in his voice. "Teddy! Teddy! Calm down!" Chris and I yelled trying to pull him off. "You come on and try it you little slimy bastard!" Presson snapped looking at the thrashing Teddy in disgust. "He wants you to come over here so he can beat the piss out of you and take you to the cops!" Chris shouted while struggling to hold Teddy."You watch your mouth smart guy and let him do his own fighting!" Presson pointed a fat grubby finger at Chris.

"Oh sure you only outweigh him by 500 pounds fat ass!" Gordie yelled. "I know you! You're LaChance and you're Taylor! I know all you'se guys and all your fathers are gonna get a call from me...except for the loony up in Togus". Teddy let out a scream before trying to attack the asswhole through the fence shouting every curse word under the sun. "You little foul mouth whore master" Presson sneered as we dragged Teddy away. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Teddy screamed at him through tears,"come back here!" Presson yelled at us as we left.

"My father stormed the beach of Normandy!" Teddy yelled "he STORMED THE BEACH YOU FAGGOT!".

We pulled him away before things could of gotten any worse.


	8. Chapter 8

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 8

"He ranked my old man" Teddy's sobs were full of pain and anger as he wept on Chris's shoulder. I was taken back by his loyalty to his dad even though the guy melted his fucking ear off. "Really Teddy man forget what that old crock of shit thinks" I told him as his wiped his runny nose looking down. "My old man..." he muttered choking on his tears. "What do you care what that fat pile of shit says about your dad?" Chris said stopping.

"He still stormed the beach of Normandy right?" Gordie asked firmly. "Just forget it..." Teddy mumbled and carried on walking and we followed. "You think that pile of shit was at Normandy?" Vern piped up "he knows nothing of your old man he's just dog shit". "Forget it alright?" Teddy repeated a little louder. "What ever is between you and your old man he can't change that!" Chris said causing Teddy to angrily yell "forget it alright JUST FORGET IT!".

We all turned silent and carried on walking. The mood became intense so Vern tried to lighten it by starting the old Paladin song but we all just gave him a cold firm look instead so he shut up. Teddy suddenly stopped walking and sighed deeply. "I'm sorry if I'm spoiling everyone's good time" he said slowly looking around at us. "It's okay man" Chris whispered softly, "yeah don't worry bout it" I added smiling gently. "I'm not sure it should be a good time" said Gordie wisely. "You saying you wanna go back?" Chris asked him in response.

"No" Gordie replied steadily "we're going to see a dead kid...maybe it shouldn't be a party". We all came to realise that he was right and nodded in agreement. "Yeah...like if he's all cut up and torn and shit with blood all over him I might have nightmares!" Vern said turning white. "Come on Vern" Chris shook his head and carried on walking. "You know all guts and eyeballs and shit like that..." Vern tried to carry on but we stopped him yelling "SHUT UP VERN GODDAMN IT!".

He stopped and we continued to make our way to the Royal River.

A few minutes later, I noticed that Gordie looked kinda down so I went up to him. "Hey man you okay?" I asked him. "I was just thinking..." Gordie replied looking to the side at all the tall trees. "What about?" I said looking at him. "About how much Teddy cares so much about his dad even after what he did to him...whereas my dad has never done anything like that to me but I don't care about him" Gordie explained.

"Well,you and your dad haven't really had the best relationship lately..." I replied "and...neither have me and my old man...". "Is it because of what happened to Denny and Jane?" Gordie asked the question even though he knew the answer. I nodded with my lips firmly pressed together. "I know it sounds crazy but I've always thought that my parents liked Jane more than me..." I admitted something that had bugged me for most of my childhood. "It is crazy" Gordie said "I mean of course your parents don't". He was trying to sound sincere but there was something false in what he was saying, almost as if he was trying to hide his feelings.

"You mean you never felt like that with Denny?" I quizzed him.

"Maybe...sometimes I mean he was the eldest and the football star but he made me feel loved" Gordie told me smiling painfully at the memories of his late brother "and Jane made you feel that way too right?". I racked my brain to see his he was right.

Jane was never egotistic or spoiled. She did make me feel loved. She was so full of life and light. Everyone loved her. Especially me.

"Yeah I guess..." I mumbled in response.

"Hey! LaChance! Taylor! Hurry up!" Chris yelled back at us smiling. We both gave him a look then ran up to him. I still was thinking about what Gordie said.


	9. Chapter 9

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 9

"Lollipop, lollipop, lollipop, oh la la lollipop..."

Teddy and Vern sang and skipped happily to the old Chordettes song across the rusty wearing tracks. Chris, Gordie and I were walking slower behind them when Chris said "hey I got some Winstons,one piece for each after summer". "Great" I replied smiling even though I wasn't that big fan of smoking. "Yeah that's cool" Gordie added looking at his beaten up converse. "That's when a cigarette tastes best after supper" said Chris looking ahead. We were silent for a few seconds before Gordie suddenly spoke. "Do you guys think I'm weird?".

Chris and I stopped at looked at each other. "Yep" I replied. "Defiantly" Chris said. "No seriously you guys...am I weird?" Gordie repeated the question in a more serious tone. "Yeah but so what? Every body's weird" Chris told him before carrying on walking. I gotta admit that was sort of true. "You guys ready for school?" I asked trying to change the subject. "Yeah I guess" Gordie replied shrugging, "junior high and you know what that's means...next June we'll be split up" Chris said looking slightly sad. Gordie stopped and faced him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked shocked. "Why would that happen?" I added equally surprised at Chris's comment. "It's not gonna be like grammar school that's why" he said "you two will be taking your college courses while me, Teddy and Vern will be stuck in the shop courses with the rest of the retards making ashtrays and bird houses" Chris paused and looked into the distance before adding "you two are gonna meet new guys...smart guys".

I was taken back by the lack of faith Chris had in himself when it came to school. I remember him being put down due to his false reputation but he was actually a smart kid when he put his mind to it. He had a solid chance of joining Gordie and I in the college courses.

"Meet a lot of pussies is what you mean" Gordie responded shaking his head. "No man, don't say that, don't think that" Chris said firmly pointing his finger. "We're not going in with the pussies man forget it!" I told Chris looking away. "Well then you two are assholes" Chris said raising his voice. "What's asshole about wanting to be with your friends?!" Gordie asked loudly with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It's asshole if your friends drag you down!" Chris yelled back "you guys hang with us you'll be two more wise guys with shit for brains!".

"Chris,you three aren't dragging us down you know that" I argued. "No Dan,you and Gordie have a shot, you guys got a future and I don't wanna take it from you" Chris said "I mean you could be a real writer someday Gordie...". "Fuck writing!" Gordie suddenly yelled in anger "I don't wanna be a writer it's stupid! It's a stupid waste of time!". "That's your dad talking" Chris calmly responded. "Bullshit!" Gordie spat his voice cracking. "Bull true! I know how your dad feels about you he doesn't give a shit about you" Chris said "Denny was the one who cared about you and don't try to tell me different!". Gordie was silent after that. "You're just a kid Gordie" Chris told him in an adult manner of tone.

"Oh gee thanks dad!" Gordie responded sarcastically.

"Wish to hell I was your dad" Chris said quietly yet firmly "you wouldn't be talking about taking these stupid shop courses if I was. It's like God gave you something man, all those stories you can make up and He said 'this is what we got for you kid try not to lose it'. You too Dan, you've got it too. You both have. Kids lose everything unless there's someone there to look out for them and if your parents are too fucked up to do it then maybe I should."

I remember the sunlight peaking through the oak trees and radiating Chris, giving him an angel like persona. Almost as if he was sent down to help anyone who needed it. It was that moment I became aware of how wise Chris really was. How much he knew about how the world worked. I also realised that he was the most caring person I knew.

I was so grateful for him.

We soon got to the open train tracks that stretched over a deep river 100 feet below. We could see the path on the other side which felt a thousand miles away. The wind whipped through our hair and clothes as we stood staring at the trail ahead. "Any of you guys know when the next train is due?" Vern asked looking around. "We could go down to the Route 37 Bridge" Chris suggested.

"What are you? Crazy?" Teddy asked shocked "that's five miles down the river, you walk five miles down you gotta walk five miles back. That could take till dark but if we go this way the could get to the same place in ten minutes". "Yeah but if a train comes there's no way to go" Vern argued."No there isn't, you just jump" Teddy replied casually as if he wasn't aware of what he just said. "Teddy it's a hundred feet" Chris protested. "Yeah Teddy" added Vern. "Look, you guys go around if you want but I'm crossing here and while you guys are dragging your candy asses halfway across the state and back I'll be waiting for you on the other side relaxing with my thoughts" Teddy gave a sarcastic smile. "You use your left hand or right for that?" I asked him causing the guys to snigger. "You wish" Teddy coldly replied.

We all started walking slowly and carefully across the long wide track. Chris, Teddy and Gordie at the front and Vern and I at the back. Vern was crawling on his hands and knees, his lips were firm together and his eyes were focusing hard on the wooden planks. He suddenly stopped and stretched his hand through the gap in the tracks. He then looked up to me sadly and said "I lost the comb". "Forget it Vern" I shook my head and pressed him on to keep crawling. Suddenly I thought I felt a slight quick vibration beneath my feet. I looked back to see if a train was approaching but couldn't see anything. I decided it was my imagination and carried on walking.

I was stunned when I heard Gordie scream at the top of his lungs "TRAAAAAAAIIIINN!".

We all looked back in horror to see the steam spreading through the sky behind us. "Oh shit" Vern gulped and crawled faster. Teddy, Chris and Gordie all sprang as fast as they could. Running for their lives towards the end of the track. I jerked Vern up and screamed "GET UP VERN! COME ON!". It was no use. Vern was paralysed with fear clutching the tracks as his face turned white. "WE'RE GONNA DIE GODAMN IT MOVE!" I yelled as loud as I could but then I realised his foot was stuck between the planks. I yanked it out with my sweating palms and pulled him up. "RUN VERN RUN!" I shouted as he finally began to move.

I don't think I have been more terrified in my life. Sweat drenched my body. My head spun. My heart beat was louder than a thousand drums but I could hear Chris, Teddy and Gordie screaming for us to run.

Vern and I were only a few inches from the tip of the train. Its whistle was screeching in my ears numbing them. We were close to the end but my legs turned weak. I decided there was no other choice. I shoved Vern and jumped after him off the tracks and onto the sand below. We both hit the ground in a cloud of dust. I watched the train rode past above our heads. The dust cleared and there were Teddy, Chris and Gordie staring down at us in pure shock.

"Hey, at least we know when the next train is due" Chris smirked casually.


	10. Chapter 10

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 10

After our traumatic experience at the train tracks, the guys and I headed down to the forest to camp for the night. "Man that was the ultimate train dodge" Teddy chuckled as we all sat around the warm campfire roasting marshmallows on sticks "Vern you looked so terrified! Like that fat guy when he saw the mummy!".

"I wasn't that scared" Vern protested shaking his head. "Vern!" we all said raising our eyebrows in disbelief. "No, sincerely I wasn't" Vern repeated, "okay then you won't mind if we check your jerseys for hockey pucks won't ya?" I asked Vern sarcastically to which he replied "go screw!".

"Hey Vern, you better turn yours over" Chris said referring to Vern's one sided overly cooked marshmallow. "This is the way I like to do it" Vern curtly said but his marshmallow soon slipped off his stick and split into two. We all laughed as he poked at it sighing in annoyance. "You got any more Gordie?" he asked shaking his head. "Sorry Vern" Gordie laughed grinning.

"It's not funny! What am I supposed to eat?" Vern asked angrily as Chris and Teddy doubled over in laughter. "Why don't you cook your dick?" Teddy chuckled, "it'd be a small meal!" Chris added before bursting into a hard laugh. "Ha screw you guts I got it!" Vern snickered as he managed to gather up his mushy marshmallow.

Soon the night began to fall so Chris got out the Winstons he swiped from his dad. We all settled down under the electric stars as we puffed on our long awaited cigarettes. "Nothing like a smoke after a meal" Vern smiled with his cigarette between his fingers. "Yeah, I treasure these moments" Teddy added causing us all to stifle a laughter. "What? What I'd say?" Teddy asked us as we shook our heads.

"Hey Gordie, why don't you tell us a story?" Chris asked.

"Oh...uh... I don't know..." Gordie shrugged looking down at this shoes. "Oh come on" said Chris. "Yeah Gordie" Vern said "not one of your horror stories though because I'm not up for that right now". "Why don't you tell us one about Sargent Steel?" Teddy suggested. "Well the one I've been thinking about is kinda different, it's about this lie eating contest..."

I still remember that story about Davie "Lardass" Hogan and his revenge on all those who ever teased him. It still makes me chuckle to this day. Even Though Teddy wasn't really a fan of the ending I still think it was one of Gordie's best. I wonder if he's published it yet?

After that we talked well into the night. The kind of talk that seemed important before you discovered girls.

"Okay, Mickeys a mouse, Donald's a duck, Plutos a dog...what's Goofy?".

"If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, Pez, Cherry flavoured Pez there's no doubt about it".

"Wagon Trains a really cool show but have you ever noticed that they never get anywhere?".

"He can't be a dog he wears a hat and drives a car".

"I knew the 64 thousand dollar question was fixed, there's no way anyone can know that much about opera".

"Man that's weird,what the hell is Goofy?".

Deep into the night a high piercing howl echoed around the forest awakening us all from our sleep. "What was that?" I asked looking sharply around at the still trees. "It's that Brower kid, his ghost is out walking in the woods" Teddy had to comment. "Don't say that!" Vern whimpered. The sound came again sending icy chills down our spines. Chris had his gun held tightly in his hand, "maybe it's coyotes?". "It sounds like a women screaming" said Gordie as the howls came closer and closer. I gotta admit I was fucking scared that a bunch of blood thirsty wolves were gonna spring from the bushes and rip us apart to pieces.

"It's Brower's ghost" Teddy repeated getting up.

"Hey Teddy sit down" Chris said firmly. "I wanna see the ghost" Teddy argued starting to walk away but the loud chilling howls caused him to jump right back cursing. "Maybe we should stand guard" Vern smartly said. "Yeah that's a good idea" I agreed.

"Give me the gun" said Teddy "I'll take the first watch".


	11. Chapter 11

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 11

Although we were a little shaken from the horrifying screams of wild animals, we managed to get back to sleep with the brave and valiant Teddy guarding over us. The dumbass decided to play a loud game of soldiers and give aloud reports of the current events much to our annoyance. When his turn was finally over Vern took over. Pretty sure the poor fucker was scared out of his wits for the whole watch.

At around midnight it was my turn to watch over my sleeping friends, I placed the gun next to me as I sat down in front of the fire, staring into the deep orange flames as the world around me was silent and still. I sorta liked it. It was a chance to sit alone and relax with my thoughts which were not rather pleasant at the time. I kept thinking about that talk I had with my dad before I left. I was trying to get my head around why my dad disliked my friends so much, what was wrong with them? Okay maybe Teddy was a little wild and reckless but it wasn't like he was some crazy ass psycho like his old man. Chris may have came from a rough family but he was the wisest guy I knew. If my old man could see that then maybe he would approve of my friends. Maybe.

What if it wasn't just my friends? What if my dad had a problem with me personally? My mind shot back to my early childhood, my dad and I used to go out fishing and for a game of football occasionally but I never really felt close to him. Jane was. Jane was a daddy's girl through and through, I could still remember the way my dad's eyes would sparkle whenever he saw her. My mother too, both my parents looked at Jane with love and pride whereas I would receive sanctions of cold glares and lecturing remarks from my parents.

I sighed deeply and looked down trying to avoid any pussy tears.

"You okay man?".

I looked up and saw Chris awake and staring at me with that familiar father like expression on his face. Not a judgemental father like expression but a caring and concerned one. "Nothing I'm fine" I muttered shaking my head and looking back at the fire "it's nothing". Chris wasn't entirely convinced as he got up and sat down next to me. I stayed silent and kept my focus on the shrinking glowing patch of flames in front of me. "Come on many I know something's up" Chris said to me "you can talk to me". I bit my lip and I could feel my friend's deep blue eyes on me, almost as if they were trying to take a look into my deepest thoughts. I shifted slightly and scratched the back of my neck. I cleared my throat before finally saying "I was just thinking that's all". "About what?" Chris asked quietly, "my dad" I replied after a small pause. I heard Chris sigh. He was all too familiar with problems with fathers.

"Has anything happened?" Chris looked back up at me and I finally looked back at his face, I still remember the way the flames lit on side of it, the other half was covered with the shadows. It really defined his features in a whole new way to me.

"He just..." I tried to think about what to say but my brain couldn't think of a right way to put the words. "We had a little argument before I left that's all" I said quickly. "Was it about anything serious?" Chris pressed on as I focused on my lap in a hope to not overthink things again, "just about my taste in friends" I said it quietly to avoid Chris getting upset but he just nodded his head and looked ahead. "He doesn't like us much huh?" Chris asked sighing, "I...I don't know I mean he doesn't really know you guys that well" I replied shrugging uncomfortably. "Dan it doesn't matter what he thinks, you are allowed to choose your friends right?" Chris told me nudging my shoulder with his. "I know" I said smiling slightly, "see there's no need tomorrow about bullshit like that" said Chris smiling too "just because he's your dad doesn't mean he can control every single aspect of your life".

"You're a smart one Chambers,you know that?" I asked Chris looking up at him, he let out a slight chuckle before nodding and replying "yeah", I smiled and looked back at the fire. It was silent for a few seconds until we heard a few muffled groans. We both looked up and saw Gordie flinching in his sleep. Suddenly he shot upwards with a small scream, he was pale and looking around frantically. "You okay Gordie?" I asked, "you were dreaming" Chris added as Gordie took deep slow breaths to calm himself. He then said in a small weak voice "I didn't cry at Denny's funeral".

Chris and I looked at each other then back to Gordie. "I miss him..." He whispered looking into the distance. "We know" Chris said softly "go back to sleep okay?". "I don't know if I can" Gordie replied closing his brown eyes. "Then come sit up with us" I suggested. Gordie swallowed a lump in his throat before getting up and joining us in front of the fire. None of us said anything for what felt like a long time until Chris broke the silence. "Why do you guys hang around with me?" he asked, surprising us both. "Chris you're our best friend" I told him, "but why? I mean what do you see in someone like me?" Chris asked looking down. "We just like you that's all man" Gordie said confused "why?".

Chris let out a deep sigh before getting up saying "forget it".

We watched as he walked over and sat down below a huge oak tree, burying the side of his face in his folded arms. Gordie and I soon got up and went to sit on either side of him. He didn't tell us to leave but instead stayed in his closed position. "Maybe you can come into the college courses with us" Gordie told him. "Yeah that'll be the day" Chris curtly said still not looking up at us. "Why not? you're smart enough" I said nudging him slightly. "They won't let me..." Chris responded pressing his lips together "because of the way people think of my family in this town and the way they think of me...I'm just one of those low life Chambers kids".

"That's not true" Gordie said firmly. "Oh it is" Chris said back looking up "no one even asked me if I took the milk money that time...I just got a three day vacation". I bit my lip before asking "did you take it?". "Yeah I took it. You guys knew I took it, Teddy knew I took it and so did everyone else" Chris replied as if it were no big deal but I could sense a strong problem with him. He was quiet for a few moments and then he sighed "maybe I was sorry and I tried to take it back". "You tried to take it back?" Gordie replied in disbelief, "maybe...just maybe" Chris said slowly "and maybe I took it to Old Lady Simmons and told her and the money was all there but I still got a three day vacation because it never showed up and maybe the next week Old Lady Simmons had this brand new skirt on when she came to school".

"You mean the ugly brown one with dots on it?" I asked shocked from what I was hearing, Chris nodded and carried on speaking, sounding more and more hurt as he went on with his painful story. "So let's just say that I stole the milk money but Old Lady Simmons stole it back from me...now just suppose that I told this story. Me Chris Chambers kid brother to Eyeball Chambers, do you think anyone would of believed it?". Gordie and I sadly shook our heads. It was all too true. No one would have believed Chris.

"And do you think that that bitch would have dared try something like that if it had been one of those douchebags from up on The View if they had taken the money?!" Chris asked, burning anger growing stronger in his voice. "No way" Gordie replied. "Hell no! But with me..." Chris looked down and shook his head, "sure she had her eye on that skirt for long time and she saw her chance and took it...I was the stupid one for trying to give it back" he said. Tears started to swell in his eyes and his voice became full of hurt and pain as he wept "I just never thought...I never thought that a teacher...oh who gives a fuck anyway?!".

He burst into tears. All the pressure and stress that had been dragging him down for most of his life finally caused him to collapse inside as he sobbed into his closed lap. I still feel the heavy ache in my chest every time I think back to it.

Chris then looked up and swallowed his sobs.

"I just wish that...that I could go some place where nobody knows me". With that he broke down again. I was speechless. All this time I thought Chris was the strongest of us all, he seemed to carry the world on his shoulders no matter how heavy it was. It was at that moment I realised that even the strongest of us can fall and break sometimes.


	12. Chapter 12

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 12

Sunlight spread gently across the land as morning finally came. I didn't get much sleep that night as I was too concerned with what Chris had said but I still somehow managed to drag myself up to continue our journey. I realised just how close we were to finding Brower's body, I was cautious about how much the thought excited me.

We ate our peculiar breakfast of melting Hershey's milk chocolate as we travelled along the seasoned tracks, every step taking us closer to the body that would make our names known in Castle Rock.

"Geez Gordie" Vern commented through a mouthful of oozing chocolate "why couldn't you have got more breakfast stuff like Pez or Twinkies with root beer?". "I'm sorry Vern but I guessed a more experienced shopper could have gotten more interesting stuff with your generous 7 cents" Gordie replied coolly. With rumbling stomachs we headed towards the Royal River with the ever growing image of discovering Ray Brower's body keeping us moving regardless of the sweltering heat pounding down on us.

Soon we made it there. We all stood on the empty tracks staring thoughtfully out towards the distant forest across us. "Gentlemen, the Royal" Chris announced boldly. "Man, the tracks got out all the way" I noticed looking out at the long line ahead. "We cut across here and we'll be there in an hour" Chris told us pointing to the great oak trees standing proud in the fields. "I think we should stick to the tracks" Vern said looking around, "I say we go across here"'Teddy argued nodding forward.

"Yeah me too" Gordie added.

"Dan?" Chris asked me as I considered our options. The tracks may have been safer but I really needed to see that body as quick as I could. So I nodded.

"Let's go across here".

"Let's go!" Chris ordered before jumping and running in the direction of the woods with Teddy following his lead in true army style. "Ugh you guys...its a lot safer if we uh...you don't know what's in those woods..." Vern remained on the tracks trying to convince us otherwise but failed, running slowly after us and tripping over his own two feet.

Deep in the forest we came across a great thick puddle of mud and when I say thick. Mean FUCKING THICK. It felt like I was using all the leg muscles I had trying to get across that thing. "I hate this short cut" Vern whined behind us as we stooped through the swirling knee deep mud. Teddy mimicked him in a high pitched squeaky voice only to receive an empty punch from Vern causing him to flinch. "Ha! You flinched! Two for flinching!" Vern yelled excitedly but that ass wipe Duchamp ruined his one shot by hitting him hard on the arm instead.

When the married couple finally caught up to the rest of us, we were standing in front of a murky, unaesthetic swamp with spreads of broken twisted twigs floating across the surface. We all stood staring at this unattractive obstacle. "How the hell do we get across this?" Vern asked as if we had the best answer. "We use you as a raft" Teddy replied in a serious sounding tone, "ha ha very funny" Vern responded with boredom in his voice.

I spotted a thin stick laying beside my feet which I then picked up and used to test the depth of the gross looking swamp. "Hey it's not that deep lets just walk across" I said before the guys and I stepped out into the shallow beginning of the water which to my ultimate surprise turned out to be the stepping stone to an even deeper swamp. We all sprang out from underneath the cold water with deep shocked breaths. "I told you we should have studied to the tracks" Vern said sourly as nano droplets of water dropped from his pink lips.

Teddy turned slowly to him before asking "is it me or are you the world's biggest...pussy?".

"I suppose this is fun for you eh?" Vern asked him raising his soaked eyebrows, "no...but this is...". With that Teddy dunked Vern deep into the swamp before dragging him back up again for a few seconds laughing and mocking hysterically as Vern yelped and begged for him to stop. "Come on Teddy act your age!" Chris yelled causing Teddy to stop trying to fucking drown his best frenemy. "This is my age!" Teddy grinned brightly in response "I'm in the prime of my youth and I'll only be young once!". "Yeah but too bad you're gonna be stupid for the rest of your life" I added causing Chris to chuckle.

"Oh! Hell no!" Vern shouted with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh you two are so dead, you just signed your own death warrant Taylor so YOU DIE TAYLOR!" Teddy and Vern pounced on Chris and I which turned into a huge messy wrestle of splashing to try to plunge everyone else underneath the dirty swamp. It was moments like this that make me smile and my eyes sparkle like stars. These glorious memories of letting loose and having a good time with my friends. I'd kill for times to go back to that.

Gordie however refused to participate in any of the fun and instead continued to make his way to the land. "Hey,where'd you think you're going LaChance?!" Chris asked raising an eyebrow and spreading a mischievous smirk on his flushed face. "Yeah LaChance!" Teddy yelled grinning. "Come on guys" Gordie said shaking his head at us all. "PILE ON!" Chris and I yelled in unison as we jumped towards a protesting Gordie. Teddy and Vern joined us in throwing ourselves onto Gordie when he made it to the edge.

"Sleeper hold! Sleeper hold!" Vern chimed locking Gordie in a headlock "no one gets out of the sleeper hold". "Hey Vern,there's something on your neck" Gordie said staring at Vern, "yeah right I'm not falling for that one LaChance!" Vern argued but it was true. On his neck was...

"It's a leech..." Teddy said shocked "LEECHES!".

We all scrambled up yelling and shouting in disgust. We all ripped off our wet t shirts and to our pure horror discovered our bodies covered in vile sucking leeches. "Get them off! GET THEM THE FUCK OFF!" I screamed trying not to throw up. "Jesus Chris they're all over!" Chris was tearing the fuckers off his skin, leaving blotchy red patches in their place. We all swiped the rest of them off one another's back and threw them as far as we could. I still shiver at the memory.

After we got rid of the sucking pieces of shit there was silence as we tried to catch our breaths. Gordie flinched and looked down. Slowly, he pulled his pants open and his eyes turned wide as he quivered "oh shit...oh shit Chris...oh shit man..." We all watched in life shock as our poor friend reached down and pulled a huge leech off his cock, his finger tips were painted with dark blood. The leech dropped to the ground as Gordie stared at his dripping fingers for a few seconds before fainting onto the wet soaked floor.


	13. Chapter 13

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 13

"Gordie man are you okay?!" I exclaimed jumping over to the pale still Gordie lying in the mud and leaves. We all leaned over him as Chris gently shook his shoulder whispering "Gordie...Gordo you there?". "Maybe he's dead!" Vern said stupidly, "he's not dead he's still breathing you moron!" Teddy responded shaking his head at Vern.

"Well how should I know?!" Vern snapped back annoyed, "hey hey cool it you guys" I told them "he just fainted...you okay Gordie?". His brown eyes began to flutter gently as he started to come around. "God...I never met anybody who fainted before" Vern commented in amazement causing Teddy to stare at him stunned for a few moments before saying coldly "maybe he made a bad mistake and looked at your face dumbass". "Shut up Teddy" Chris firmly said "Gordie? You okay?".

Gordie finally nodded and rubbed his eyes. I couldn't imagine the shock and humiliation the poor guy felt. I still feel back for him about it.

"Let's go" I said gently as Chris and I helped Gordie up, we soon dryer off in the sun and put our clothes back on, Chris and Teddy were re packing the sleeping bags and I sat down with a silent Gordie. "You okay man?" I asked him concerned, he gave a curt short nod in reply and I sighed. "Hey Dan over here!" Chris called me over so I got up to join them, "what's up?" I asked them putting my hands in my pockets. "I think we should take Gordie back" Chris told us looking over at Gordie who was staring into space intensely.

I was thinking it over when Teddy threw his hands up and scoffed "oh great Chambers so now you're turning pussy too huh?". "What's your problem Duchamp? He had a leech hanging from his balls for Christ's sake, he fainted!" Chris snapped angrily. "Yeah Teddy for once in your life be considering eh?" I added shaking my head at him. "Oh what the hell are you two? His parents?!" Teddy looked at us both in disgust which pissed Chris off. "Eat shit!" he spat clenching his fists, "you eat shit!" Teddy shoved Chris hard who stepped back towards Teddy with rage. I was terrified that they would finally let rip at each other.

"Hey hey!" Vern stepped between them to cool things down which I never thought he would ever do "I think Chris and Dan are right I mean we should go back". "Oh ha ha,what a surprise the king of the pussies wants to go back home to his mommy!" Teddy cruelly laughed in a sarcastic manner. "Stop calling me that!" Vern's voice changed to calming from firm and threatening through gritted teeth. "Oh what pussy?" Teddy smirked, "stop it!" Vern warned him but he wouldn't quit. "Pussy pussy pussy!"

The way he was mocking Vern reminded me of how Old Man Pressmen taunted and teased Teddy about his dad. I was confused by how Teddy had sank to his level but then I understood probably why.

"You four eyed psycho" Vern suddenly pounced on Teddy knocking him to the ground, "get off me!' Teddy yelled as Vern repeatedly punched him shouting "two for flinching! You like it! You like it huh?!". Meanwhile Chris and I were trying our best to break up the fight, "come on guys! Chris tried to drag Vern off Teddy with no success.

"Guys stop it!" I shouted as I grabbed Vern back.

"STOP IT!" Gordie suddenly shrieked, stopping everything, we all looked up at him in pure silence and shock. He finally stood up and said firmly "I'm not going back" before turning round and headed to the Back Harlow Road. We all scrambled up as Teddy and Vern exchanged one more insult with each other and followed Gordie to find the body.

We were quiet for most of the way. Everyone was still trying to process Gordie's sudden change in character. We soon got to an opening when Gordie stopped and asked "Teddy...is this the Back Harlow Road?". "Yeah" Teddy replied looking round. "Brower kid must be here some place" I said staring around the trees and tangled bushes. "Teddy, you and Vern take the left side of the tracks and we'll take the right" Chris ordered and we all spilt up. It was only a few short seconds before Vern suddenly yelped "I see him! Over there! I see him!".

We all ran over to where he was pointing.

None of us could breath.

Somewhere under those bushes was the rest of Ray Brower.


	14. Chapter 14

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 14

For what felt like hours none of us spoke. We all stood there, speechless as we stared at the twisted legs poking out from the bushes at the bottom of the dip.

It was Chris who eventually took action and rushed down to the body and we all followed hectically. When we reached the body we saw just how extreme it was, the train had knocked the life out of Ray Brower's body like the light of a bulb after it had been smashed. Chris picked up a stick and carefully brushed off the tangle of leaves and twigs covering the remains of Brower with slight hesitant.

A face.

A young face plastered with deep fleshy cuts and purple bruises.

It was at that moment we all realised something that hit us like a tsunami. This wasn't just a cheap shot to getting our five minutes of fame, just our names getting mentioned as if we were heroes in our town's shitty paper or having our faces shown on the television sets in every home in Castle Rock. This was a child. A real human being. He was our age. His eyes, now dark and empty as the night sky, were once sparkling with life and wonder. This was a guy who had his whole life ahead of him, choices to make, things to see. All that taken away from him in the flashing seconds, all those golden opportunities snatched from this poor soul in the blink of an eye. It could have been any one of us walking along the tracks searching for blueberries that day.

The kid wasn't sick.

The kid wasn't sleeping.

The kid was dead.

Why had God chosen to take this boy?

The weight of all this was crushing me. I heard Chris mumble something about building a stretcher but my thoughts had blocked my sense of hearing. My legs went numb as if they were filling up with lead causing me to sit down on a fallen trunk behind me. I started to think about Jane and Denny. They were once full of life like Brower was. I took one last look at his face, I thought hard about how behind all the scars and swelling was the fresh face of a teenager who would never age. Like my sister and Denny. I saw their bright young faces that would stay the same age. They wouldn't ever age and their faces would look like they did when they passed until the soft flesh rotted away into crumbled bone then to dust.

I then asked what I had always wanted to ask since their deaths. "Why?"

"D...Dan?" Chris's voice was faint and distant. I stayed silent, not being able to fathom a single word from my brain to my throat.

My eyes still stayed focus on the mangled corpse of Ray Brower but I could feel Chris getting closer to me slowly, I didn't look up at him even when he sat down beside me and I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. He didn't say anything. That's what I appreciated about Chris Chambers, he would always wait for you to feel ready to talk.

"Why did Jane and Denny have to die Chris?" I whispered my voice hoarse and my throat dry "why?". I asked as if Chris had the answers I needed, I wanted him to so badly it hurt. He was silent for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly and replying with a low "I don't know". "Why her? Why wasn't it me?" I then said starting to crumble, "why would it be you?" Chris asked his voice turning sterner "why should it have been you Daniel?". Why? Why me instead of Jane or Denny or Brower who I never even bothered to get to know? Why did Denny have to get hit by that stupid fucking jeep? Why did it have to make my older sister who I thought was strong and proud swallow a bottle of poison and stop her young heart?

Why did Ray Brower have to walk across the tracks for fucking blueberries?!

"I wish it were me".

"Don't ever say that man" Chris sounded like he was going to choke up but he somehow managed to keep his voice steady. "My family hate me, they wish it were me instead of Jane" I sobbed so hard I thought my aching heart would tumble out my chest onto the hard ground. "Your family...Dan, they don't hate you man" Chris tried to reassure me "they just don't know you that's all...they don't know you well enough to hate you Dan".

I couldn't stop the red hot tears pouring from my eyes onto my flushed cheeks. I felt like a godamn pussy for crying but I didn't stop. Chris wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him in an attempt to comfort me.

"You're gonna do great things with your life Dan" Chris told me quietly and I could feel the smile in his voice "I mean you're smart and kind and loyal and you can do whatever you want in this world...not to mention you're a badass sometimes". I managed to calm my sobs and wiped my wet eyes and nose before looking up to meet Chris's gaze with my own.

"I can be quite the badass when I want huh?" I hiccuped back a sob and smiled. "Yeah man" Chris gave me a final smile of support when a sharp voice snarled.

"What the fuck do we got ourselves here?".


	15. Chapter 15

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 15

Chris sprang to his feet as we saw Ace and Eyeball standing at the top of the ditch.

My blood ran cold. What the fuck were they doing here?

"Shit, my little brother" Eyeball sneered looking down at Chris in disbelief.

"You weren't planning on taking the body from us was ya boys?" Ace asked in a low voice as they approached us. Teddy, Chris, Gordie and Vern stood close together as Chris bravely said "get away man...we found him and we got dibs!". Eyeball and Ace smirked at us, "we better start runnin' Eyeball" Ace mocked chucking "they got dibs". "We earned him man!" Chris spoke up "you guys came in a car that's not fair so he's OURS!".

"That's not fair he's ours!" Eyeball mimicked his brother taking a puff of his cigarette "well not anymore". "There's five of us Eyeball" Teddy said "you just make your move", "oh we will don't worry" Ace replied with a sly grin on his scruffy face.

We looked up and saw the rest of Ace's gang appear, they were all at least 6ft and clearly dominated us in muscle. We all shit ourselves suddenly releasing that this wasn't gonna be as easy as we wanted it to be. "Vern you little son of a whore!" a thin and pale Charlie Hogan spat rushing down to us "you was under the porch you little cock sucker!". "No...no I swear it wasn't me" Vern squeaked trembling as his older brother Billy whipped out his leather belt snarling"you peephole shit rat why I outta beat the shit out of you!" Vern suddenly ran away tripping over his own feet to hide.

Ace kept control of his tangle of thugs. "Now you guys got two choices here" he told us, his voice slow yet rough "you either leave now quietly and we take the body...or you assholes stay and we beat the living shit out your pussy asses then we take the body". I could see Chris clench his fist and jaw clearly not willing to compromise with The Cobras (that was their shitty gang name). "Besides Billy and I found him first!" Hogan said firmly.

"Oh yeah Vern told how you dicks found him" Teddy scoffed and raised his voice in a higher squeaky pitch as he said "oh Billy I wished we never boosted that car, oh Billy I think I just turned my fruit looms into a fudge factory!". This angered Hogan who raised his fist at Teddy, "that's it! Your ass is grass!". He began to step forward but Ace held his bulging arm out to stop him, he then turned to our leader with a warning look in his dark cold eyes. "Okay Chambers you little faggot...this is your last chance to get out of the biggest ass whooping of your life so what do you say kid?".

There were a few moments of intense silence then Chris said the one thing that made him have all my respect for the rest of our lives.

"Why don't you go home and fuck your mother some more".

Ace clenched his jaw and let our a long sigh, he whipped out his pocket knife which glistened in the sun. "You're dead" he whispered with venom dripping from his gruff voice. He then began stepping closer to Chris still holding the knife close. "Come on Chris" Teddy tried to pull him away but Chris was standing firmly refusing to give in. "They're not taking him" he said in a steady voice, "Chambers this is crazy man!" Gordie pleaded clearly terrified himself but it was no use.

" They are not taking him!" Chris said louder in a firm voice, "he's got a knife man!" Teddy said one last time before running away. Ace was now in front of Chris with a deadly look in his eyes. "You're gonna have to kill me Ace" he said staring at him with a slimmer of fear on his face. "No problem" Ace replied and grabbed Chris's neck and held the knife to his throat.

Suddenly there was a high screeching bang.

Silence.

I pulled the gun down and pointed it in Ace's direction.

"You're not taking him Merril" I told them.

"Dan what the hell..." Gordie gasped shocked.

"Nobody's taking him" I stepped forward by Chris's side, the gun still in my hands. I honestly do not know what came over me or caused me to take the gun and fire it but I'm glad I did. I knew it was the only way to overthrow these guys.

"Come on Taylor give me the gun" Ace said backing off slightly at the sight of me. I extended my arms as he tried to get closer, "don't you move Ace" I warned him finally having the upper hand in the situation. "Just give me the gun before you take your foot off" Ace told me and stepped closer "what would your sister think if she saw you right now huh?".

I took a sharp breath before replying with "suck my fat one you cheap dime store hood".

Ace froze and his nostrils flared, "you ain't gonna kill me Taylor".

"Wanna find out?" I asked him raising an eyebrow, my finger wrapping tighter around the cold trigger. Ace bit his lip and looked around before saying "what are you gonna do, shoot us all?". "No Ace" I told him "just you". Ace hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, "we'll get you for this" he snarled holding the knife up. "Maybe you will and maybe you won't" Chris told him. "Oh we will don't you worry" Ace said and nodded to his gang signalling them to leave, he turned to us one last time and said "we ain't gonna forget this if that's what you're thinking...this is big time baby". With that he turned and walked away, leaving us with the still body of Ray Brower which in a way we had won.

I sighed and slowly lowered my shaking arms. My heart was pounding out hard in my chest and sweat was running down my back as I took in what I just did.

"Suck my fat one?" Chris said "whoever told you you had a fat one Taylor?".

"Your mum" I then turned to him grinning and he laughed and patted my shoulder.

"Damn that sure was something Daniel" Gordie sighed smiling at me "didn't know you had it in ya man".

I gotta say I was damn well proud of myself. What I was feeling after that was sure as hell worth the broken arm and bruised face I got from Ace Merrill later on.


	16. Last Chapter

Walking on the Tracks Chapter 16

"Suck my fat one?" Chris said before turning to me and adding "whoever told ya you had a fat one Taylor?". "Your mother" I replied smiling brightly at him and at that moment the intense vibe was broken as Chris stifled a laugh and patted me on my shoulder saying "yeah".

We then stopped and slowly turned to face Brower who was completely oblivious to what had just happened. Teddy and Vern returned to our side and Chris gave them a curt nod, I guess he was a little pissed at them backing off but to be sincere I couldn't honestly blame them for it. "Are we gonna take him?" Vern asked Chris softly, "No we shouldn't..." Gordie replied and I agreed with a nod. "But we came all this way" Teddy argued "we were supposed to be heroes".

"Not this way Teddy" I told him.

Ray Brower wasn't a prize to be won. He wasn't our cheap shot at fifteen minutes of materialism fame and praise. He was a son, a brother, a grandson and friend. I am so thankful I learned that through our journey to find him.

His body was found but neither gang got the credit for it, in the end we decided an anonymous phone call was the best thing to do.

We headed home and although many thoughts were racing through our minds the journey was done in silence. We walked through the night and made it back to Castle Rock by just past five o clock Sunday morning. The day before Labour Day.

We hadn't been gone that long but after what we went through that weekend, our small dreary town seemed smaller and more dreary.

"Well..." Vern spoke when we walked into the empty still street "see you in school". "Yeah" Chris said smiling at him, "see ya in Junior High" Teddy said, Vern gave us a small nod and turned and headed home. He stopped and bent over and picked up a small object before turning over to us with a smile. "Penny!".

We smiled and shook our heads at him. "Well guys I better get home before my mom puts me on the most wanted list" Teddy told us and started to walk off, he stopped and looked over. "Hey Chris...no hard feelings eh?". Chris shook his head in reply, "no way man". Teddy gave a slight smile and walked home humming 'The Ballad of Paladin'.

As the years went on we saw less and less of Teddy and Vern until they eventually they became two ghosts of the past. It happens sometimes, friends come in and out of our lives like busboys.

I heard Verno got married out of high school,had four kids and is now working as an operator at some lumber yard some place. Teddy attempted several times to get into the army but his eyes and his ear kept him out, last I heard of him he was in jail and was doing odd jobs around Castle Rock.

"I'm never gonna get out of this town guys" Chris whispered as we stood under the treehouse overlooking the town we all saw as a grey prison. "You can do whatever you want man" I told him, "yeah you'll probably be the first to get outta this place" Gordie added. "Yeah..." Chris smiled at us sadly "give me some skin". We exchanged our handshake with him before I said "we'll see ya". "Not if I see you first" and with that Chris Chambers turned and left.

"I've got a lot of faith in that kid Taylor" Gordie told me as Chris gave us one last look and wave, "me too" I said smiling at the shrinking Chris. "Well my folks'll probably flip if I'm not home soon so I'll get going" Gordie said patting my shoulder. "Take care LaChance" I smiled at him as he walked off. "Gordie?" I asked and he turned "this would make an awesome story...might outsell Lardass the Pie Puker". Gordie grinned at me, "I hope so".

Gordie, Chris and I did get out. We all enrolled in the college courses together, we all found it difficult especially Chris but he gutted out like he always did. Gordie left school and became a writer with a lot of stories to tell. Chris became a lawyer after college and was extremely successful, last week he entered a fast food joint where two men got into a fight and one pulled a knife. Chris being the brave peacemaker he was tried to break it up.

He was stabbed in the throat.

He died almost instantly.

Such a great guy, killed within seconds because of two asshole strangers bickering.

I hadn't seen him for five years but I'll miss him forever.

What happened to me? Well I pursued with my interest in cinema and attended film school. I'm now a director of independent drama films. And hey who knows? Maybe I'll make a film adaptation of Gordie's novel version of this story if he ever publishes it.

It would be great to see him again, Teddy and Vern too. I'm hoping to see them at Chris' send off. The gang back together one last time.

Man, I never had any friends like the ones I did when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?


End file.
